At the Vatican, Pope Francis urged the crowds
gathered in St. Peter’s Square: “Let us pray so
that the cry of the Earth and the cry of the poor”
is heard by summit participants.
Negotiators will push nations to ratchet up their
eforts to keep global temperatures from rising
by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius this century
compared with pre-industrial times.
The climate summit remains “our last, best hope
to keep 1.5 in reach,” said Alok Sharma, the
British government minister chairing
climate talks.
Scientists say the chances of meeting that
goal are slowly slipping away. The world has
already warmed by more than 1.1C and current
projections based on planned emissions cuts
over the next decade are for it to hit 2.7C by
the year 2100.
The amount of energy unleashed by such
planetary warming would melt much of the
planet’s ice, raise global sea levels and greatly
increase the likelihood and intensity of extreme
weather, experts say.
U.S. climate envoy John Kerry warned last week
of the dramatic impacts that exceeding the
2015 Paris accord’s goal will have on nature and
people, but expressed optimism that the world
is heading in the right direction.
Sharma noted that China, the world’s biggest
emitter of greenhouse gases, had just raised its
climate targets somewhat.
“But of course we expected more,” Sharma
told the BBC.
India, the world’s third biggest emitter, has yet
to follow China, the U.S. and the European Union